Speckled
by naranjie
Summary: Lapis helped Pearl connect the dots. (Request fic for lexboss) Continuation to 'That Thing Called' and 'Stargazers'


Yoooooooooo i just love the freckled!Lapis headcanon  
Anyway, this is a request fic from lexboss from : Pearlapis falling in love, sets in BETA episode.  
Spoiler Alert i guess

* * *

Between the several Jasper-sightings, training Connie, and seeing Bismuth bubbled again, Pearl lost the track of time but certainly didn't miss missing a certain blue gem. The pale gem sighed as she materialized on top of the warp pad near the old UUU Space Travel Headquarters. She and Lapis came really far from their previous not-so-friendly relationship. She just hoped that her absence wouldn't cause their new found rapport to regress. Pearl shook her head and the negative thoughts away. Determined, the pale gem continued her way to the barn—or at least, what appeared to be the barn.

Peridot and Lapis really let themselves go in the redecoration of the aged structure. The old smaller-than-average lake was still present, only to be connected via tubes to the old water tower installed almost haphazardly to the wall that used to have a massive hole in it. Near these was a dismantled bicycle that appeared to be intently fixed on the recently bothered soil. On the other side of the barn was an erected tent topped with a familiar flag. Finally, the back end of the trashed pick-up truck was sprouting on top of the barn's entrance, double-functioning as a roof and a patio. On top of it was Lapis, who appeared to be watching from the television Pearl herself fixed.

"Lapis!" The pale gem called out, tiptoeing unconsciously.

"Pearl?" The water gem peeked from the back of the pick-up truck, beaming brightly at the sight of the taller gem, "It is you!" She summoned her wings to gently land on the other gem for a hug, "It's great to see you again," she said, laughing with delight.

The pale gem blushed teal at the unexpected welcome but returned the gesture, "Great to see you, too," she sighed in relief, her previous concerns forgotten. They stilled in the embrace, their unneeded breathing synced to the afternoon breeze. The inaudible lines from the television above filled the otherwise quiet morning in the countryside. The scent of sun and brine pleasantly filled Pearl's lungs, causing her to take a few deeper inhales, breaking their pattern. With great effort, the taller gem extracted herself from the hug to gazed down at the other gem. The water gem looked brighter and happier, albeit slightly disheveled with her deep blue hair unkempt. Her golden freckles previously concealed by her clammy complexion splattered across her nose and cheeks, even on her shoulders and on the skin just beneath the straps of her halter to— Pearl cleared her suddenly dry throat, "I l-love," she started, licking her all too dry lips, "what you did in the barn! A pick-up truck as roof and patio… some functional designing, Lapis."

"Thanks… we try our best," the blue gem said awkwardly, feeling as if she missed something. She looked at the arms still surrounding her at her lower back and her own arms on the taller gem's shoulders, comfortable despite the uncertain turn of the conversation and decided that she liked them there. The other hasn't pulled her arms away and Lapis was not seeing herself initiating in the near future. "Do you want to see what we put there? I can fly us up there," the blue gem said.

The taller gem grinned and nodded at the suggestion and the next thing she knew they were at the back of the pick-up truck and Lapis was lowering her in front of the television. "That never ceases to amaze me," the pale gem said breathlessly, straightening the imaginary crinkles on her outfit with the hand currently not on the other gem.

"Flying or holding onto me?" The water gem joked light-heartedly. She retracted her wings and turned to take a seat, waiting for the other's flustered yet predictable rebutta—

"Yes."

Lapis turned at the already seated pearl. The water gem cannot see the other's expression but the other gem's dark ears betrayed the steadiness of her monosyllabic reply. "Oh," the blue gem simply said. Self-conscious but feeling oddly giddy, the blue gem patted her unkempt hair and settled stiffly in front of the other gem, laying her head on her bent legs. "I-I like those, too."

The taller gem stared as the other's golden freckles contrasted nicely against the deepening blue shoulders of the water gem. "So it's not just me," she thought with a smile. Slowly, the pale gem extended her legs around the other and pulled the pliant body in front of her in an embrace. "I-Is this all right with you?"

Lapis just relaxed on the body behind her and sighed, "Yeah… I'm okay."

The two stayed like this for a while, enjoying each other's company and touch. The show in the television was basically white noise to the pale gem although she did recognize some of the characters. Occasionally, Pearl would move her long legs to a more comfortable position, rustling the blue gem closer to her body in the process. The gentle shine of the early morning sun was doing wonders in the overall complexion of the water gem. Her then dank navy skin was now vivid royal blue fitted to her namesake and gem. Again and again, the taller gem found herself fixating on the splattered gold across the gem in her arms. All the more so now that the blue gem laid her head on one of her shoulder, exposing her bespeckled neckline to the other. It reminded her of the stars and distant galaxies they saw in the unadulterated view of the sky the night Lapis flew them to space. How they didn't follow reason and permutations, existing in an orderly chaos across the inky dark and, in this case, blue canvas. One by one, Pearl counted and charted each freckle, identifying each unnamed constellations and asterisms on the living, moving, and bending skin of the owner of the questioning bright eyes staring right at he—

"…them?"

"W-what?" The pale gem replied stupidly.

The blue gem shifted in the other's arms, facing the now astonished gem, "I said, 'Do you like them?'"

"I-I…," Pearl stuttered, her eyes found the other's steadfast ones, "I do," she exhaled, "I really do, Lapis." Uncertain whether the proximity was still welcomed, she clasped her hands in front of her body, severing contact from the curiously quiet gem. The last thing she wanted to do was cross the vague line of their equally vague relationship.

Suddenly, the blue gem buckled into a laughing fit, rattling the already unnerved pearl. The quake of her unexpected mirth travelled to the other gem until it turned to trembles of fallen tears.

"W-why are you crying?" The pale gem asked, forgetting her previous uncertainty and grabbed the other's leaking face in panic, "Did I hurt you or do something wrong? I—"

"No! No…" Lapis tried to control her tears, which was a growing challenge in her current overwhelmed state, "It's… it's just," she nuzzled against one of the pale hands on her face, "I'm so happy right now."

"Happy?" The taller gem asked quietly.

The water gem sighed into the other's hand, peering through her damp eyelashes she whispered, "Lapis lazulis with flecks have lower value than those with deep, unblemished blue skin." She looked away, eyes heavy from crying, "I have particularly dense flecks but I learned to hide them with water." With a flash of light at her back, wings of water appeared around the two gem. The tip of one of the wings moved to touch the back of the blue gem's hand, damping the freckled surface to a deep unblemished navy blue. "I was lucky to have my wings. They were rare in flecked lapis lazulis so the other gems never suspected that I'm… marked and worth less."

The pale gem smiled wistfully the other's confession, "You are marked… and powerful, and smart, and beautiful," she stated assertively, meeting the other's doubtful eyes, "and have obscene laugh, word choices, and sense of humor," she smirked, lowering her lids lovingly. "A-and… I like… you—I," she coughed uncomfortably, "I mean, I like those things about you… flecks and all."

Lapis laughed with a snort, staring at the gem shadowed by the transparent water of her wings, and brought her hands to cradle the other gem's face mirroring the taller gem, "I can say the same thing about you, you know?" She murmured, slowly pulling the taller gem by the face.

"R-really?" Pearl asked breathlessly, "I-I don't know… I mean, I know I am smart but the others… wait, I do not have a obscene laugh, nor lexicon, and as far as I know, nor sense of humo—"

Lapis grinned at the blabbering gem, tears overflowing from her already swimming eyes. Gingerly, she pulled the other into a quaint but full kiss, successfully silencing the taller gem. "I meant… I like you too, you nerd."

It was now the pale gem's turn to shed albeit happy tears, "Well this is a convenient turn of events," she declared wetly.

"I know," the water gem smirked, "now quit ruining the moment and kiss me," she murmured.

Pearl managed to scoff before pulling the other into a kiss with a pleasant, "With pleasure."

* * *

"how to fall in love"  
"how to take care lapis lazuli"  
"lapis lazuli value"  
"shades of blue"  
^my google search entries


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